$12.1 million is on its way to communities in rural Alaska for sanitation project development—including water, wastewater and solid waste systems that can improve health by addressing dire sanitation conditions, like a lack of indoor plumbing.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced at AFN that the communities of Quinhagak, Shageluk, Nunapitchuk, Buckland, and Akiachak will receive grants from the USDA’s branch of Rural Development. The State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) were also awarded funds for the maintenance of rural Alaskan utility systems.

Vilsack visited Alaska in 2009 and said through meeting with community leaders and program partners, he recognized that Rural Develoment’s sanitation programs needed to be more accessible for rural Alaska. Through a streamlined application process, more than $200 million for rural Alaskan sanitation has been acquired since 2009.

And the USDA also recently announced a Cooperative Agreement between their Rural Development branch and the Association of Village Council Presidents. The two organizations hope to provide better service to residents of the Yukon-Kuskokwim region by working together. The agreement states that AVCP will now be assisting the USDA in projects, outreach, and community and economic development in the region.

Alaska State Troopers are investigating the death of a woman in Quinhagak;

Two minors from Brevig Mission are accused of wanton waste after killing a herd of musk ox;

A proposed bill allowing some VPSO’s to carry firearms advances out of the house;

Flint Hills Resources refinery in North Pole to close in next few months;

A ballot initiative to regulate marijuana in Alaska is expected to be certified by the lieutenant governor this month;

An Anchorage judge places a restraining order on measures limiting abortion access.

http://www.knom.org/wp-audio/2014/02/2014-02-05-knom-update-news.mp3
]]>6902Profile: Nunalleq Archaeological Sitehttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2014/01/24/profile-nunalleq-archaeological-site/
Fri, 24 Jan 2014 19:55:05 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=6753In Western Alaska, a team of archaeologists from Scotland's University of Aberdeen have been racing against mother nature.]]>

A team of archaeologists from Scotland’s University of Aberdeen have been racing against mother nature.

In 2009, Dr. Rick Knecht was notified by residents in Quinhagak of an old village site – Nunaathlaq – that was literally being eaten by the ocean and rising sea water. They’ve collected roughly 20-thousand pieces since 2009. And just recently, the Aberdeen archaeologists received a 1.8 million dollar grant to continue their work at the site near Quinhagak.

We’re really excited about it. You know – when we first found the site it looked really promising. And every year it exceeds all of our expectations in terms of the kind of artifacts that come out of there.

Dr. Knecht explains the site is unique and extremely rare because of the level of preservation. The artifacts were deposited in a fairly damp environment to begin with – back during the Little Ice Age. Since then, they’ve spent most of the last 5-700 years frozen in permafrost.

And because of that, they’re in great shape. And we find things that we very seldom see in archaeological sites. You know, usually as an archaeologist you just find stones and bones if you’re lucky…I’ve been digging in Alaska for more than 30 years and it’s the best archaeology I’ve ever seen and it’s the best everyone’s ever seen. We’re just going to be spoiled for the rest of our lives now.

To hear more from Dr. Rick Knecht about the Nunalleq site and their race against time, melting permafrost and erosion, listen below.